Extractives sector – Respect for security and human rights for peace & development

Security forces monitor an industrial mine site in DRC in 2022. DCAF
DCAF – Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance
Links:
DCAF – Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance DCAF's security and human rights toolikt DCAF's security and human rights knowledge hub platform

How can countries overcome the natural resource curse, where investments in the extractives sector fail to benefit populations, undermine development, and fuel conflict? And what role does the private sector have to play in either contributing to – or potentially breaking – this cycle? DCAF – the Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance has been working for over ten years at the intersection of business, security, and human rights, focusing on the extractives sector. Through our activities, DCAF encourages businesses to mitigate their negative impacts and contribute positively to peace and development.

Around the world, oil, gas, and mining companies rely on security providers to protect their business operations – whether through arrangements with public security forces (national police or armed forces), in-house security teams, or hiring private security providers. Human security, however, depends not just on protecting company assets and people but on communities accepting a company’s presence and being assured of their own security. This symbiosis involves complex considerations for companies, like communication with host communities, identifying the root causes of violence or conflict, and demonstrating the social benefits of their investments. Other measures include establishing clear obligations and responsibilities between governments and companies to monitor security providers, ensure professional conduct, and redress any abuses.

Since 2012, the Peace and Human Rights Division within the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs has supported a strategic partnership between DCAF and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to help companies operating in complex environments respect human rights and ensure conflict-sensitivity in their security arrangements. The two flagship resources developed by DCAF and ICRC are the Security and Human Rights Toolkit and Knowledge Hub web platform. They show companies how to build constructive and trust-based relationships with host communities and governments while ensuring that their security providers respect human rights. Through practical case studies and interactive guidance, these tools offer companies pragmatic steps for managing weak governance, promoting human rights among security forces, and ensuring inclusive community engagement, among other elements.

At the country level, DCAF empowers national civil society actors to play a leadership role in bringing company and government representatives together, identifying, preventing, and redressing security and human rights incidents through joint engagement. The Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights are a key framework for these efforts. It is a global multi-stakeholder initiative that promotes the implementation of the clearest statement of international best practices on corporate responsible security practices. DCAF’s work to support the implementation of the Voluntary Principles is enabled through multi-donor support, including by Switzerland and others.

DCAF’s promotion of the Voluntary Principles in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) since 2018 shows how locally adapted promotion of international best practices can help break the resource curse. DCAF supports Congolese non-governmental organizations convene multi-stakeholder Working Groups. They identify, monitor, and find solutions to key security and human rights challenges in areas of artisanal- and small-scale mining in eastern DRC’s “conflict mineral” region and in areas of major large-scale industrial mining in DRC’s southern copper-cobalt belt. The eastern DRC group has developed lessons learned on the positive role that multi-stakeholder dialogue can play in the extractives sector, showing concrete improvements in security and human rights on mine sites such as Twangiza, Bitale, and Nyabibwe. DCAF has also undertaken several efforts to improve the human rights performance of security providers. For example, the organization strengthened the Mining Police’s capacity to prevent and redress the worst forms of child labor on mine sites. DCAF also supported raising the security and human rights practices of one of the world’s largest Chinese cobalt miners.

Home to important extractives multinationals, and a major commodity trading hub, Switzerland is a government member of the Voluntary Principles Initiative and has strongly encouraged more producer countries, like the DRC, to join the Initiative. To this end, DCAF has also provided technical assistance to the DRC government to apply to join the Initiative, with a positive decision expected in May 2023.

DCAF is supporting such a multi-stakeholder approach in a range of challenging contexts, all related to natural resource extraction. In Mozambique, DCAF is working with civil society, the national government, companies, and international partners to address how major international companies can sustain operations and positively contribute to peace and development regarding armed violence linked to Islamist extremism in Cabo Delgado province. In Latin America, DCAF supports multi-stakeholder engagement in Colombia. The current government sees business, security, and energy as priority areas to consolidate peace and prosperity and as an avenue to implement recommendations of the National Truth Commission report.

Ensuring that extractive companies respect human rights, operate in a conflict-sensitive manner and that their investments benefit local populations is becoming ever more urgent as the world slowly transitions away from fossil fuels with an increased drive to obtain critical minerals or other resources that are part of the green energy transition. As much as companies can negatively impact rights-holders, they can also positively contribute to building and strengthening security institutions and preventing conflict. Though national and regional political and conflict dynamics continue to present challenges, DCAF’s efforts to promote responsible security management and multi-stakeholder engagement show how positive incremental change in the extractives sector can be achieved. Thanks to multi-stakeholder engagement, the entire business, human rights, and peacebuilding community has learned the importance of partnerships and joint engagement. DCAF is open to collaboration with all stakeholders interested in this approach.

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